Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She’s a Survivor of Sexual Assault

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks about her trauma through the US Capitol insurrection.

US Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said during an Instagram live that she is a survivor of sexual assault. The New York Democrat went through a detailed account of her day, recounting her experience during the riot at the US Capitol.

She said people in Congress who are telling her "to move on" following the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January were using "the same tactics of abusers."

"The reason I say this and the reason I'm getting emotional in this moment is because these folks who tell us to move on, that it's not a big deal, that we should forget what's happened, or even telling us to apologize. These are the same tactics of abusers. And, um, I'm a survivor of sexual assault," Ocasio-Cortez said. She did not share details of the assault.

"And I haven't told many people that in my life. But when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other. And so, whether you had a negligent or a neglectful parent, and -- or whether you had someone who was verbally abusive to you, whether you are a survivor of abuse, whether you experience any sort of trauma in your life, small to large -- these episodes can compound on one another," she said.

Speaking about her experience during the storming of the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez said, "I hear huge violent bangs on my door and then every door going into my office. Like someone was trying to break the door down. And there were no voices. There were no yells. No one saying who they were, nobody identifying themselves."

Ocasio-Cortez said she thought that man was an insurrectionist but he was a Capitol Police officer. "I have never been quieter in my entire life," she said. "I held my breath. This was the moment where I thought everything was over."

“The accountability is not about revenge,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s about creating safety. And we are not safe with people who hold positions of power who are willing to endanger the lives of others if they think it will score them a political point.”